A forested planet, called 'New Tahita' because it consists mostly of islands, is being plundered for his lumber by a group of a few thousand humans, who disregard the native 'creechies' as subhuman. Captain Davidson, leader of one of the logging camps, is one of the worse examples of humanity. In fact, he takes out a lot of his own aggression on the peaceful natives, even raping and killing one particular female. This female's husband, Selver, almost kills Davidson for doing this. And a short time later, this same Selver starts to travel from town to town, influencing his fellow beings, but not necessarily for the better. Because he's the first one of them who has learned violence and killing and it's something that is easily spread. For them to survive it becomes necessary for them to fight the 'yumens' for control of their planet. But in doing so will they become just like their enemies?